When Hope Dies

How Could You

"Oh Jesus!" Jess shouted, readying her bow and making a mad dash into the bunker. I crouched down by Daniel, making sure he was still breathing. He looked messed up for sure, but he was alive.

"Hurk, help me move him into the helicopter." I said as I started to drag him up and off the stairs. Hurk nodded and set aside his rocket launcher before helping me drag Daniel away. We placed him into the helicopter and Adelaide hopped out of her seat and into the back with him.

"Hurk will stay with you and help you keep an eye out, make sure Daniel's okay." I instructed and started to walk away.

"No no no! I've got this just fine. Don't leave Hurk here." Adelaide said, waving Hurk away. She did NOT like spending any sort of time with him. Hurk shrugged and grabbed his rocket launcher, heading down into the bunker.

As I was walking away, I could hear Daniel groaning and mumbling "I'm so sorry," and "Eli's gone." Gone? Like... captured? This isn't going to end well for this region... or us. I started to head down into the basement, bow at the ready. The moment I had both feet on the first stair, the doors slammed shut behind me, sending me flying down the hard, metal stairs.

I landed with a hard thud at the bottom, groaning and biting my lip to hold back a scream and the pained tears that threatened to spill out. I definitely felt something in my side crack. Why, God? What did I do to earn that one?

Hurk, who was taking his time to read the paint all over the walls, noticed me as I landed and ran over to help.

"Well that's gotta hurt! My daddy always said he'd push me down some stairs like this. Did he think you were me and push you? Man, that'd be so funny. Not really to you but I think my daddy would laugh up a storm." Hurk blabbered on and on until Jess poked her head into the doorway, nodding for us to follow her.

Hurk helped me up and we both followed Jess. I was using the wall to walk, waiting until the stabbing pains in my side went away before letting go of the wall and walking on my own. I could hear talking. Jacob.

Hurk and Jess were waiting for me outside the door where it was coming from. I placed my hand on the doorknob, twisted it slowly, and slammed it open. A small tape recorder sat on the nightstand next to Eli's bed. And on the bed lay Eli, a bullet wound right in the middle of his forehead. Blood was splattered all over the walls, the bed, the floor.

I covered my mouth and nose, the thick smell of iron in the air made me sick to my stomach. The tape recorder was where the voice was coming from. It was Jacob, preaching about Eli. Calling him weak, a fool, nothing but meat.

All three of our radios buzzed to life as Jess turned off the tape recorder, and Jacob's voice came through, loud and clear.

"I'm culling the herd. Those cowardly Whitetails are all mine now. And Eli? Dead. Meat for the wolves. It was almost too easy, considering how weak that man was. And now the three of you, standing there, staring at his body, have two choices. Join Eli, or wait for my hunters. The clock is ticking." Jacob rasped, and the radios fell silent. Then came the loud ticking. Like a clock.

"We need to leave, now." I insisted, getting out of the room and heading for the bunker doors. Jess and Hurk reached the top before I did, and no matter how hard they pushed, the doors didn't budge.

"Adelaide, get your helicopter up in the air, now!" I shouted into my radio before turning to Hurk. He caught on pretty quick, getting his rocket launcher ready.

"Are you crazy? They built these doors so you couldn't blast them open, no matter how close you were!" Jess stated, trying to stop Hurk.

"Yeah, if you're shooting from the outside. If we can even just loosen the hinges, we'll be able to get out of here. Unless you have a better idea." I said, grabbing Jess' wrist and dragging her down the stairs with me. We flew into the adjacent room as Hurk peeked around the corner, up the stairs, and aimed at the door.